BY: Barnabas Mam
Plin Kpa was born in 1965 to a Jarai family in Oyadao District, Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia and is the one of the first two people in his tribe to believe in Jesus. Plin accepted Christ in 1997 through the ministry of Mras, a Jarai evangelist from Vietnam. Plin had a strong passion to bring the Gospel of Christ to his own people but had no training.
In 1998 I started the first church planting class at the Institute of Church Planting Cambodia (ICPC), and Plin was a student. In the middle of the church planting course Plin got news from his dear wife that their rice grain in the barn and their rice paddy in the fields were all destroyed by fire. But he continued on in his training, graduating in October 1998. Plin was crushed but not destroyed.
Plin and his family in Charlotte, NC
After returning home, Plin ploughed the fields, sowed the seeds, witnessed Christ to his new friends in the neighborhood and planted a church among the new believers. By the time Plin and his family migrated to America in November 2002 his church had reached five hundred members with a good number of leaders to look after the church.
Once Plin settled the United States, he was able to find a job and worked so hard to supply his family’s needs. Compelled by the love of Christ, Plin and Mras started doing home visits to find the opportunity to share the Gospel to their fellow Jarai refugees in Charlotte, NC. As a result of their zealous ministry, Oyadao Montagnard Baptist Church was planted in April 2007.
Just last month I was reunited with Plin in a visit to Charlotte. What a great encouragement to see those who have been trained continuing to serve the Lord. Whether in their own homeland or half way across the world, God is continuing to use His servants to bear fruit.
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